First it was a list of the country’s sexiest male barristers which set legal
hearts aflutter. Now it’s the turn of the women.

In a bid to avoid charges of sexism – and keep the boys in chambers happy – the two American women behind the original venture have now drawn up a list of the 21 hottest female members of the bar.

Included in their selection of the most striking and attractive ladies on the legal circuit is Justine Thornton, the wife of Ed Miliband, the Leader of the Labour party – hailed for her “earnest swot look”, being a “joy” to work with and not least the fact “she has to listen to Ed Miliband’s adenoidal patter every day”.

Topping the list of ‘hottie women barristers’ is Amal Alamuddin, of Doughty St chambers, who specialises in international and human rights law and represented Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder, in his fight against extradition.

Miss Alamuddin is described as having “achieved the seemingly unattainable ideal of contemporary femininity: She is both breathtakingly beautiful and formidably successful. Not only does she have huge warm eyes and silky, jet-black hair, but she speaks French and Arabic.”

If that was not enough to prompt the interest of the finest male legal minds in the profession there is Marianne Butler at number two, described as “ferociously intelligent with a first from Oxford (PPE), a cornucopia of prizes and a glittering career at Fountain Court [chambers] where she keeps all the male hotties on their toes.”

After initially deciding to keep their identities secret when they drew up the list of hot male barristers last month, the two women have now decided to reveal themselves.

They are Natalia Naish, 31, an author and art historian, and Sonia Van Gilder Cooke, 30, a journalist and former Time magazine writer.

Miss Cooke said its was only fair for them to turn their attention to female barristers. She said: “As soon as we launched the man’s list people began to ask us if we would do a similar thing with all the attractive women who work across London’s legal chambers. After all it’s only fair that both sides should be able to see the best of who’s out there.”

Miss Cooke added that the reaction to both the male and female lists had so far been almost entirely positive, although one woman asked not to be included for personal reasons.

“We haven’t put anyone on who doesn’t want to be there and we have not included pupils, who can be in a vulnerable position as they are not so established,” she said.

The pair say they welcome any suggestions for inclusion in the women’s list, and have also launched a male ‘hottie of the week’ to run alongside their original selection of 21 top men.

Also included among the women is Sri Carmichael of Hardwicke chambers, at number three. Her entry reads: “With her pale skin, auburn hair and icy expression, Sri looks like a majestic Celtic warrior or a princess in an Icelandic Saga.

“We envision her in a desolate landscape, intimidating her barbarian enemies with her beauty, a spear, and an army of besotted men willing to die for her. According to her admirers, she is ‘even more beautiful in the flesh’, ‘charming and super bright’, and ‘tall with an incredible supermodel figure’.”

At number four is Siobhan Grey, of Doughty Street chambers, of whom the pair say: “If you had been born in 1850s, you might have been ‘discovered’ by Dante Gabriel Rossetti and made to sit for hours in a medieval dress, fingering a lute for a series of languorous, slightly lascivious portraits. But here you are today, fighting white collar fraud and defending freedom of expression.”

Also on the list are Laura Newton of 11 Stone Buildings at number 5, “an English rose” who speaks German, French and a bit of Mandarin, and Elizabeth Nartey, of Argent Chambers, at six, a criminal barrister who “has the kind of face that exudes kindness, warmth and sincerity”.

Miss Nartey’s entry states: “We imagine that her empathetic demeanour is rather disarming to all the hardened criminals she deals with on a daily basis.”

Others include Shaheed Fatima, of Blackstone chambers – “beautiful eyes and such a calm, knowing smile” as well as “fearsomely clever and possessing a very fine legal mind” – and Sophie Wellings, of 39 Essex Street chambers, “straight out of central casting for the sort of blonde English lovelies with porcelain skin, tiny waists and delicate, tapering fingers”.